Why the violence?

-A reporter tries to find some answers.

-A reporter tries to find some answers.

July 02, 2006

I'm sure many of you feel as I have felt this week with all the violence our community has faced. I live on the west side. I know many of these people affected. For the past few days, people who know me and some who only know of me from my work here have come to me asking, Why is there so much killing? Of course, I don't have any answers to satisfy them or even myself. After talking the situation over with my editor, she gave me permission to go out and talk with people about what they think might be the problem. I heard many opinions about young people. Those I spoke with didn't want their names or pictures in the paper. This violence, after all, carries with it a certain amount of fear. But they all said these young men shooting and being shot don't care about anything but themselves, and most have no guidance at home. All things we have heard over and over again. Then something dawned on me: Why not ask the young men themselves? I approached a very nice car with mag tires. Three well-dressed young black men sat in the car listening to Yung Joc's "It's goin' down": "Meet me in the trap, it's goin' down Meet me in the mall it's goin down ..." Each of their heads moved steady to the beat, hats tilted to the side. I told them who I was and asked permission to talk with them. They all agreed. I was surprised by their frankness. Lefty-T, who said he earned his nickname because he is left-handed, said they are not with a gang. "We are just friends, but we don't belong to no gang," he said. "People and the police see us riding around listening to our music and chillin' and they immediately think we're doing something. We don't be doing nothing. ... Man, that stuff really makes me mad." Clearly, they are angry, but when asked whether any of this could be of their own doing, PJ says no."This is my mama's car," he admits. "She lets me use it to go looking for a job. Man, ain't no jobs out here, and I'm not going to fry hamburgers or nothing like that. If I can't get a real job, that's something I won't do." All three said they had served some time in juvenile detention, but they didn't say why. All had dropped out of school. They all said they can read, but I'm not convinced how well. I asked whether they were scared with so much killing and all. For a moment, no one answered, but as I started to walk away, one of them called my name. "You can't be scared of people, because if you are you will be in trouble," PJ said. "I'm not out here trying to hurt nobody, but I can't let anyone hurt me, either." After being stood up later that afternoon by some other young men, I headed home, still not sure why killing seems to come so easy now. Later that evening, a car pulled up in front of my house as I sat on the stoop. One young man yelled, "Hey Miss Johnson, I heard you were looking to talk to some boys about gangs and the killing." I know the mother of one of the young men, so I told the three of them to move their car, take off their hats and pull up their pants, and we'd talk. Their faces were young. They told me that not everyone belongs to gangs, but there are gangs in the city. "There are gangs around, but they usually don't go around shooting innocent people," said 19-year-old Robert. "Gangs have problems with individuals, and they usually know each other because of previous beefs. Guns, yes, there are many guns out here, and they are not hard to find. I don't plan on shooting nobody." According to 19-year-old Westly, his mother, who is on drugs, put him out of the house when he was 16. "I don't have anyone but my guys here," he said. "My mother don't care about me, and I don't care about nobody, but I'm not out here shooting people. Not all of us are gang banging." He acknowledged that he doesn't work, though, and he does some illegal things to survive. Of the seven young men I spoke with altogether that day: -Not one of them stayed in school, not even past the 10th grade. -None of them has gone to church in the recent past. -None of them ever lived with their fathers. In fact, they all expressed a strong dislike for their fathers. -All but one still live with their mothers. -None has a paying, regular job. -Four are already fathers themselves. -All of them are angry. Later, I stopped a young man who was passing by my house. He said his grandmother named him Adam after the biblical character. I asked him why there's so much shooting and killing. "Most of us are mad," he said, "and we really don't know why, so we take it out on each other."Staff writer May Lee Johnson: mjohnson@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6326